There’s a chance that, this year, Ohio State might take the college football attendance crown from the University of Michigan.
Well, why not?
Michigan is in disarray. In fact, that’s putting it mildly. So far this year, the Buckeyes are averaging more fans than the Wolverines, and Michigan’s recent struggles — in pretty much every facet of college football, from player safety to basic concepts of Public Relations 101 — are causing its fan base to wonder why in the hell they are paying to watch a train wreck.
As an Ohio State fan, I want to beat Michigan in every possible way — but as a person, I want to see the Wolverines take a licking because they are just doing things the wrong way. The University of Michigan is a great institution, but it is one that has lost its way. If it is risking player safety, through sheer ineptitude or for some other reason, it needs to reassess its priorities and and return to what it once was. If its hated rival — namely, the Buckeyes — seize the college football attendance crown while Michigan dithers about canning an athletic director and a head football coach who are incompetent boobs, maybe that will help to convince the U of M Administration that it has lost its way. That would be a good thing for Michigan, for the Big Ten, and for the world of college football in general.
If embarrassing the University of Michigan in yet another contest produces some good, it’s the least we can do.
Webner House 
So, OSU wins that contest? So what? If so, to celebrate, will another drunk frat boy run onto the field and lose his scholarship?
College football is a conundrum. Workers aren’t paid. They’re at risk physically. Their employers pay tenured PhDs $50/year and assistant coaches $1/2 million.
You’ve gotta convince me, Robert, that OSU’s getting more butts in seats than UM means anything.
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That’s a fair point, because I think the highest attendance mark is one of those things that means something only because people think it does. For years, Michigan has been proud of having the highest per-game home attendance in college football. No surprise there — it’s got the biggest stadium. But now it’s not filling that stadium. If it loses the top attendance slot, and to its hated rival, maybe the U of M administration will finally sit up and take notice that things have gone very wrong with the football program.
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